NICOSIA, Cyprus -- Cypriot lawmakers are due to vote
Friday on a raft of new measures they hope will qualify the country for a
bailout package and avoid financial ruin next week. But officials in
Brussels and Berlin gave no indication it would be enough.

Cyprus
needs to find a way to raise the 5.8 billion euros to qualify for 10
billion euros in rescue loans from other eurozone countries and the
International Monetary Fund.

The plan needs approval from eurozone
and IMF and that remained elusive. Eurozone officials said they had not
seen all the details and would have to discuss whatever final plan
Cyprus presents.

"The next few hours will determine the future of this country," said government spokesman Christos Stylianides.

Cyprus
has had to come up with the new plan after lawmakers rejected a scheme
that would have seized up to 10 percent of people's bank deposits.

The
plan needs to be in place by Monday, when the European Central Bank has
said it will cut off emergency support to the banks. That could trigger
their collapse and devastate the economy, potentially pushing the
country to leave the 17-country euro currency union.

"We are
trying very hard," Averof Neophytou, deputy leader of the ruling
Democratic Rally party, told reporters on the progress of talks. "We may
have a result this day."

As part of the package being discussed
Friday, lawmakers were considering restructuring the country's second
largest lender, Laiki, which suffered big losses on Greek debt
investments.

A large part of deposits in Laiki above the 100,000
euros ($129,000) that are insured could be confiscated. A banking
official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the talks
were ongoing, said seizures of 25-30 percent were being discussed.

Banking
officials estimate the restructuring will account for 3.6 billion euros
of the 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) the country needs to raise.

The
rest of the money could come from a proposed tax on deposits from the
Bank of Cyprus, the country's largest lender, one lawmaker with
knowledge of the deliberations said on condition of anonymity because
the talks were ongoing.

The lawmaker didn't specify the size of
the tax, but said it would be large enough "so that the numbers add up,"
adding that he expected this to be put to a vote tonight.

Laiki
bank's acting CEO, Takis Phidias, condemned the plan. "I'm certain that
there will be chaos after these bills are approved."

Phidias said
the initial plan to seize deposits across all Cypriot accounts "would
have more evenly shared the burden and certainly, it would have
safeguarded both large banks. I'd like to believe that there's still
time to carry out this negotiation.

A government official,
speaking only on condition of anonymity as negotiations were on-going,
indicated that a tax on deposits in other banks was also still on the
table.

The Bank of Cyprus, the country's largest lender, said it
backed the idea of confiscating some percentage of all bank deposits
over 100,000 euros because there were no immediate alternatives.

The
bank warned Cypriots that "a potential collapse of the banking sector
could lead to the total loss of all deposits above 100,000 euros and the
immediate sale of all collateral accompanying non-performing loans."

Meanwhile,
Cypriot efforts to clinch a contribution from Russia appeared to have
failed for now. Russia is a key player in the crisis as Russian
depositors have parked around 20 billion euros in the country.

"We
will only be ready to discuss various ways of support for that state
only after the EU nations and Cyprus work out a final settlement,"
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told a news conference.

Russia's
finance minister, Anton Siluanov, said the Cypriots were seeking
investment from Russian companies in a Cypriot state-owned firm that
will manage revenue from the island's newfound offshore gas. The Russian
investors, however, were not interested.

Cyprus also offered
stakes in some of its banks, but there were no takers in Moscow for
that, either. Siluanov also said they were not discussing providing a
new loan to Cyprus as the EU has set a debt limit for Cyprus.

Back
in Nicosia, worried Laiki employees gathered near parliament for a
second day to protest the bank's restructuring, which would break the
lender in two. One side would take on the soured investments to allow
the stronger side to survive.

"The bank is finished, we'll lose
our jobs and I'm worried about my kids," Laiki employee Nikos Tsiangos
said, standing behind barricades and a cordon of police that have
blocked the way to Parliament. "They've brought us to the brink, the
Europeans wanted to destroy our economy and they've done it."

The
bills lawmakers were considering also included setting up an "Investment
Solidarity Fund" to receive donations from the church and to pool
revenue from other measures. They were also due to vote on restricting
banking transactions in times of crisis.

A vote on the laws had been scheduled for Friday morning, but was pushed back as negotiations continued.

Separately,
President Nicos Anastasiades announced there had been agreement for
Greek subsidiaries of Cypriot banks to be sold, "with significant
benefit for the Cypriot side," a statement from Anastasiades' office
said.

Europe also turned up the pressure on Cyprus. Luxembourg's
finance Minister Luc Frieden told Germany's Inforadio that Cyprus
"certainly must change a very great deal in its financial sector ..... I
see among some euro states little financial room for more concessions
to Cyprus."

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